A report from the Bakersfield Californian. “A partially built housing development off Highway 178 has become the focus of a police inquiry after contractors working on the project went unpaid and one of the development partners sued another alleging misappropriation of millions of dollars. Bakersfield Police Department Sgt. Nathan McCauley said the agency is investigating locally based Tarina Homes Inc. for ‘possible embezzlement’ after a substantial sum appears to have gone missing from corporate accounts.”
“County records show the project entered foreclosure in December after Tarina missed a half million-dollar mortgage payment due Oct. 25. That was shortly after a number of local construction companies filed liens claiming they were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for work and materials, records show. Shamrock Hills homeowners Fidel and Noemi Orozco said they love the home they and their three children moved into Sept. 1 on Turning Leaf Lane. But since noticing a gaping hole under one corner of their home, as well as a large depression on their front lawn, they said they have been unable to get anyone connected to the project to address the situation. Noemi said Tarina can’t be reached and the property’s original landscaper has refused to fix the problems because the company wasn’t fully paid for its work.”
“‘It’s frustrating,’ she said. ‘We don’t know what to do about it and who to contact about it to be heard.’”
“A local developer hired by the project’s lender in recent months to complete work on Shamrock Hills said he has tried to help homeowners there ‘because it’s the right thing to do.’ But he said he has no legal responsibility to make repairs and that their best recourse is to reach out to whichever contractor did the work. ‘Tarina’s not going to be back there to help them,’ Jeremy Willer said. ‘There’s nothing left in the company.’”
“Tarina’s former offices at 4560 California Ave. appear to have been abandoned. Neither of the primary owners, Chris Johnston and James McKay, responded to requests for comment.”
The Daily Republic in California. “Q: I went to a wealth seminar that, in part, talked about how to protect your property from foreclosure. One of the things the speaker stressed was the need to file a homestead on your property. They said you can stop a foreclosure by filing a homestead on your house. I’m currently several months behind in my house payments and I want to try to stop the foreclosure and keep my house, so I need to file my homestead right away. Is this something I need a lawyer for?”
A: I hope you didn’t pay a lot of money for this seminar. If you paid anything, you got ripped off. Almost all of the information in your email is wrong, at least in California. There’s no magic process that lets you fail to pay your mortgage and still keep your house, at least not in California. But that doesn’t seem to stop people from charging admission to seminars that sell little more than false hope.”
The Herald Tribune in Florida. “Even with the latest $2.75 million price cut, it’s still the most expensive home for sale in the Sarasota-Manatee region. The Longboat Key mansion came on the market in early 2017 for $26.5 million, a local record list price. It was reduced a year ago to $22.5 million, and this month lowered to $19.75 million by owners Mike and Michele McKee. Michael Moulton, the broker-associate with Michael Saunders & Co. who has the listing said no more price reductions are looming. ‘One step at a time, as there has not been any further discussions concerning price,’ he said.”
From Yahoo Finance on Florida. “Tech billionaire Manuel Medina has already moved to Miami and out of his lavish Coral Gables mansion he paid $7 million for in 2013, but he hasn’t had luck finding a buyer. So, on February 14, Medina will auction off his waterside mansion in one of Florida’s most exclusive gated communities, without a reserve price — meaning there is no minimum bidding price. Medina first tried to sell his Coral Gables home in March 2018 for $17.9 million. Two years later, without a buyer, Medina decided to auction off the house.”
“A property at 41 Arvida Parkway, near Medina’s mansion, recently sold at auction this spring for only $25.5 million — less than half its $68 million listing price, according to reports.”
The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “The European-style villa owned by Houston restaurateur Johnny Carrabba is still available for purchase after more than a year on the market and a $2 million price cut. Located in the Sherwood Forest subdivision, Carrabba’s home was first listed in 2018 for $18,950,000, the Chronicle reported. It’s now up for grabs with an asking price of $16,500,000.”
From Realtor.com on South Carolina. “Even with a recent price cut from $25 million to $17.5 million, the historic 2,510-acre Twickenham plantation near Yemassee is still the most expensive home in South Carolina. Initially listed in October 2018, the property had its price cut by 30% on Jan. 9. ‘The owner just said, ‘let’s drop the price and see if we can get it sold,’ says listing agent CJ Brown. ‘He owns a lot of different properties around the country, and they’re spending more time at some of the other properties right now.’”
From Westport Now in Connecticut. “While the overall real estate climate is warmer than usual and we are experiencing heightened activity, it by no means that we have crossed into a sellers market. There are now 226 homes that are actively on the market, which has decreased by 27 properties from last year at this time. These currently available properties have been listed for an average of 1647 days, with a cumulative market time of 297 days, which is almost identical to that of last year.”
“The average list price is down approximately $193,000 from a year ago to $1,974,910 and the median price is at $1,398,500, which is down by $126,500 from a year ago at this time. Twenty-two new listings came on the market in the last seven days, and four properties came back on the market after being under deposit, or temporarily withdrawn. There were 11 properties in the past week that had a price change.”
“An estate on Beachside Avenue is the highest priced home on the market, and is currently listed at $16.75 million, after a recent price reduction of $3.25 million. The lowest available priced single family is a three-bedroom two-bath bungalow style ranch on .12 acres at 17 Hale St., which was built in 1939. The bank owned property is listed at $344,000.”
From Business Insider on New York. “The price threshold for Manhattan luxury homes fell to $3,816,835 in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to StreetEasy. This means that in order for a home to fall into the luxury sector of Manhattan’s market, it must be priced at or above $3,816,835. According to the report, the price threshold has fallen to its lowest level since 2013 and saw a 6.1% drop from last year.”
“The report also found that in the fourth quarter of 2019, the median home price in Manhattan fell 3.7% to $1,086,217 and the median amount of days a home lingered on the market rose to 96 — 10 days more than the median last year. Despite the fourth-quarter price drops, StreetEasy revealed that Manhattan’s luxury inventory rose 12.2% over the previous year and its total sales inventory rose 3%.”
“Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that, according to an analysis by Halstead Development Marketing, Manhattan has 7,050 unsold newly built units. If inventory continues to unload at the same pace as 2019, it could take over six years to sell all of the borough’s unsold units. Considering the glut of prime real estate, it’s no surprise that luxury homes are sitting on the market longer — and with lower price tags — than previous years.”
“In July, one of Manhattan’s top real-estate brokers, Lisa K. Lippman, told Business Insider that a lot of sellers in Manhattan have to come to terms with the fact that their properties are no longer valued at the same prices they were a few years ago. She also told Business Insider that since there is so much inventory, when a property gets an offer, sellers have to act fast or the buyer will move on to another option.”
From Bravo TV on New York. “Bethenny Frankel has finally sold one of her condos in the Soho area of NYC, though at a significant loss. After a few years of trying to field an offer, The Real Housewives of New York City alum dropped the price of the two-bedroom, 2,392-square-foot property, located in a prestigious building on a cobblestone street, to $3.995 million, which is just below the $4.2 million that she paid for it back in 2014.”
“A buyer who was lined up in November unfortunately fell through, but a new buyer has since come through and purchased the property for the price of $3.65 million, which is several hundred thousand dollars below the asking price and is also $550,000 less than what she paid six years ago.”